AOC costs
Can anyone provide any insight on the likely costs of obtaining an AOC for a small (ie just me and maybe one or two others) outfit?
I've been thinking about learning to fly for years and have finally bitten the bullet and started my PPL. But I'm also looking at a career change and flying whilst earning a living is appealing.
I've pretty much decided that doing an Integrate fATPL course and popping out the other end with C. £80k debt, no job and not having earned anything for about 18 months is a mugs game given the airlines approach to recruitment. So I'm thinking about other options, specifically obtaining CPL/IR and scraping enough cash together to buy a suitable aircraft and set myself up with some sort of aviation business - pleasure flights, air taxi, urgent parcel delivery etc.
But does getting the AOC entail oodles of red tape and even more costs or can it be relatively straightforward?
First time I've posted here, so please be gentle!